Dear H-Madness readers,

We are pleased to announce the defense of Cécile Cunin’s doctoral thesis in art history, “Créer par-delà l’enfermement. Genre et performativité dans l’art asilaire (1920-1960)”. The defense will take place at Université Rennes 2 (France) on Thursday, 26 November 2026, at 2:00 p.m., in room A102, Villejean campus.

The thesis explores how creative activity enabled people confined in psychiatric institutions to reclaim and renegotiate social roles and gender identities. Focusing on drawings, embroidery, clothing, and writings produced by eight people institutionalised in France and Switzerland between 1920 and 1960, it draws on history, art history, material anthropology, and the philosophy of gender to examine processes of dispossession, agency, and self-reappropriation through creation.

The jury will comprise Baptiste Brun (Université Rennes 2, supervisor), Aude Fauvel (Université de Lausanne, reviewer), Charlotte Foucher Zarmanian (CNRS, reviewer), Pascal Rousseau (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, examiner), and Elvan Zabunyan (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, supervisor).

The defense will be followed by a reception in room A107 from 6:00 p.m.

To indicate your attendance or request a link to follow the defense remotely, please complete the registration form.